What is Acidity:
One of the most common health problem faced by almost all of us is the acidity which is nothing but a simple health condition. However like any health disorder if kept unattended for a prolonged period of time might cause deeper damage. Not all acids are harmful to the body. Often the digested food in our body undergoes an acid reflux under which the food is digested.
The food we consume is mashed by our teeth as it passes down the food pipe. Once inside, the acids in the body break down the food and its particles and nutrients and then use it efficiently on the appropriate places. This is an integral part of the digestion process.
Often there are times when this acid production in the body increases in amount which is basically summed up as acidity. Also known as acid dyspepsia is thus described as a medical condition occurring and reoccurring in nature caused by the body’s inability to digest a certain kind of food, or by incorporating wrong food in your diet or by the simple increase of acidity levels inside our body.
The acid responsible for breaking down of food inside the body can be termed as hydrochloric acid which is helpful in dissecting food into carbohydrates, proteins, roughage, vitamins and other nutrients. When the hydrochloric production in the body increases its amount, it starts acting abnormally causing destruction instead.
However, acidity is a common disease which a lot of us face from time to time. For some this condition might be more often than usual based on their bodies inner working mechanism. There are usually over the counter medicines that can be availed easily from your nearby drug store but these are strictly not recommended since these medicines have their own side effect which might add to your already existing acidity.
There are often certain home remedies one can use therefore to curb your acid refluxes. Lemon juice for once is a very good remedy. One can think the solution by adding water. Mint leaves and apple cider vinegar are a common remedy too. However the main ailment is to eat right and avoid certain kinds of food, pickles or sour foods to be specific as much as possible. Although the prime reason is already mentioned here are some causes of acidity.
Even though acidity is a simple enough condition ignoring it might be difficult. That is why it is best to keep an eye out for the symptoms in case you are coming down with one.
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What Are The Causes Of Acidity:
Let’s know the top 9 cause of acidity that helps to keep away from acidity.
1. Natural Hydrochloric Acid:
The first and the foremost reason to avoid acidity is of course hydrochloric acid which is the prime reason why acidity occurs. An unknowing increase in this body acid, naturally, causes acid refluxes which are then medically termed acidity.
2. Lifestyle:
Your acidity depends on the lifestyle you lead or the way you handle your body and food. Someone who smokes too much may have higher chances of acidity. The same goes with alcohol consumption which affects the liver. The case with drug abuse is the same. These substances when consumed in excess produce hydrochloric acid more in our body.
3. Oily Food:
Oily food is not only havoc for your face but also for your body. Elders often advice us to stay away from oily food and all this while you though they were talking about your facial benefits. Many people don’t know that oily food can cause havoc in the acidity section too.
4. Caffeine:
One commonly unknown reason is consumption of Excessive caffeine that too might be a serious cause for your acidity. So try to away from caffeine related drinks and foods.
5. Lack of Physical Exercise:
This also forms a part of the lifestyle process where your obesity or idleness might be the reason why you are repeatedly suffering from acidity. Physical exercise, as much as a simple jog in the morning can help you better with your digestion and its working thereby maintaining the acid reflux in your body.
6. Emotional Stress:
When it comes to acidity, it is not only your physical aspects you should be worried about, but also your emotional part. Our emotion leads our body. Excessive stress or too much pressure in certain environment, emotional distress and depressions might also work up your acidity.
7. Persistent Feeling of Change In Taste:
Often acidity patients have noticed a sour bitter feeling persisting in their throat which makes food, the normal ones taste bad. Moreover that feeling sticks to you all day long making your mouth taste eerily weird and funny. This is because the hydrochloric acid, now excess due to the acid condition sometimes finds its way up till the back of the throat and then goes down. At extreme measures it this happens during sleep or while you’re lying down one can have a mild choking feeling. It may end up with you puking it out at times too.
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8. Alcohol:
The intake of too much alcohol is one of the most important acidity causes and you should thus refrain from this habit as soon as possible. Alcohol has certain quantities which when taken in in excess cause a lot of acid formation inside the body. This is because food habits become irregular with the intake of alcohol and a lot of imbalance is thus caused. You will often see that when you are taking in a lot of alcohol at once you will feel full and thus not feeling like taking your meal after that. This is what does all the effect because when the alcohol reacts in empty stomach it causes acidity to take place easily.
9. Misuse of Sedatives:
It is a fact that overuse of any medicine actually diffuses the use and effect of it in the body. This is why you should refrain from excessive usage of medicine. It is next advised that you stop popping in pills for every small problem which you have. The usage and following of herbal remedies is thus much better. You must understand the fact that the pills and syrups in the medicine stores are made with the usage of certain chemicals which in turn have side effects on your digestive system thus increasing acidity problems.
Symptoms of Acidity:
Let’s know the top 10 symptoms of Acidity that really help to get the early treatment.
1. Pain:
Acid like unwanted body gas also causes pain and it targets mainly the chest area or the diaphragm area which is just below the chest and right above your stomach. This can be caused due to extreme pressure of the acids hitting the chest diaphragm or chest cavity.
2. Serious Coughing:
Acidity sometimes causes excessive coughing or dry coughing or wheezing which at times might be so bad that it works up a bad case of asthma. This coughs are dry in nature which exerts too much pressure on the chest which is again when the chest muscles might start paining. If it is too much then one might even start barfing due to excessive stress.
3. Swallow Troubles:
Many a times the presence of hydrochloric acid in your throat might cause scarring which is why swallowing might become difficult.
4. Obesity:
You should definitely keep a watch on your weight always because too much weight and obesity may lead to innumerable number of diseases and disorders and it is also a cause of acidity. People who have weight issues tend to face a lot of pain and indigestion problems and gas and acidity are like the two twins never leaving the side. There are however a lot yoga postures which are great remedies for digestion problems and also reduce the weight of your body. You should start practicing these without second thoughts now.
5. Chest Injury:
You will be shocked to know that even an old injury to the chest can prove to be very bad for these problems. You will find out that at times you may be facing problems of gas and acidity regularly and with a lot of checking find that it does not decrease in spite of the fact that you are maintaining a very healthy lifestyle. This might be a problem if you have some chest injury or may be had suffered one a few years back. In that case you must visit a doctor and get all the necessary tests done for further remedies.
6. Shallow Breathing:
This is a common one among the acidity symptoms that you will experience shallow and very rapid breathing. You may not know why you are facing this because there is no pain that you experience. This is however most of the time the case that you are suffering from severe acidity problems and that you may feel extremely restless during this time because the irritation inside the body is not clear and you do not know how to calm it down. This painful and irritating situation can simply be avoided by maintaining a good and healthy lifestyle.
7. Vomiting:
This is the most common of the symptoms of acidity which takes place with every person. Most of the time acidity takes place due to over consumption and mostly overeating junk food and oily stuff. This basically forms a layer of acid near your food pipe near the throat and starts making you feel dizzy and you also feel a bad breath whenever you take a burp. This is when the food starts coming up and it forces out of the throat. You will also find that there is a slight burning sensation near the throat after the vomiting during the acidity takes place.
8. Confusion:
This is one very common thing which has to happen when you feel sick. Especially when we are talking about digestive disorders you tend to feel confused because the first part is you do not even understand what goes wrong with you. This is because there is not a single external symptom which takes place during the course of which the acid forms in the body. After it has already formed in the body you will feel a certain irritation inside the body which is even unexplainable and this is what causes the most irritation and confusion.
9. Jaundice:
It is the ultimate stage and one of the most dangerous symptoms of acidity. This is after excessive acid has been formed inside the body that you start becoming yellow. This is the reason for which jaundice was earlier known as yellow fever. It is when you are restricted from eating anything which even has a little spice because the acid has straight affected your liver at this time. You are to maintain extreme restriction during this period and only eat boiled food which fills your stomach, provides you with the necessary nutrition but does not allow even a little bit of acid to form inside.
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10. Fruity Breath:
This is not a very common one among all the acidity symptoms because this one is a special one for the people who are already suffering from diabetes. In this symptom after the acid formation in the body what happens is that you always have a fruity breath and feel like there is something of that sort stuck just near your throat. This is a very bothering situation and is very irritating too.
Acidity is a very common problem among everyone and even more nowadays with all the consumption of oily and junk food and the less of exercises and healthy lifestyle. The main acidity symptoms are mentioned in the article above and you should take care and prevent these.